Publications

April 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Governing Sustainability in a Shifting Context (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2025, boards of directors had to rethink corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts amid rapidly-shifting social, legal, regulatory, and economic forces. While just a few years earlier, calls to address racial justice and climate change reached into... View Details

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

psychological pricing: How do we structure price offerings such that customers walk away feeling they made the right decision?” Ofek says. It’s all about enticing customers to make purchases at price points they find acceptable, says... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

SUMMING UP Respondents to this month’s Wells Fargo “case study” identified problem symptoms, diagnosed causes, proposed remedies, and even suggested a title for a follow-on case. Mitch says that when one company is consistently more successful than others in that View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

14 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

“Power from Sunshine”: A Business History of Solar Energy

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Loubna Bouamane; Energy; Utilities

Research Summary

Fairness and Efficiency in Resource Allocation

In studying the relationship of fairness and efficiency, Professor Trichakis takes the novel approach of looking at varied industries for unifying factors, and he pays special attention to inequities by incorporating both quantitative work in social welfare and the... View Details

September 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

JOANN: Joannalytics Inventory Allocation Tool

By: Kris Ferreira and Srikanth Jagabathula

Michael Joyce, Vice President of Inventory Management at JOANN, championed an effort to develop and implement an inventory allocation analytics tool that used advanced analytics to predict in-season demand of seasonal items for each of JOANN’s nearly 900 stores and... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Machine Learning; Optimization; Inventory Management; Mathematical Methods; Decision Making; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Resource Allocation; Distribution; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Change Management; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; Ohio

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

that the two companies should at all times pay dividends of equivalent value in sterling and guilders. There were two head offices—in London and Rotterdam—and two chairmen. Until 1996 the "chief executive" role was performed by... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

2013
Working Paper

Combining Banking with Private Equity Investing

By: Lily Fang, Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner

Bank-affiliated private equity groups account for 30% of all private equity investments. Their market share is highest during peaks of the private equity market, when the parent banks arrange more debt financing for in-house transactions yet have the lowest exposure to... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Banking Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

EY China (A): Strengthening Presence in a Critical Market

By: Ashish Nanda, Das Narayandas and Lisa Rohrer

Soon after being named regional managing partner for Ernst & Young (EY) China in September 2009, Albert Ng reflects on the enormity of challenges facing EY China. Despite EY Global's commitment to the China practice, EY China’s growth agenda has been reversed, post... View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; International Management; Big Four; Strategy And Execution; Emerging Market; Strategy; Leadership; Global Range; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Accounting Industry; China

September 2013
Article

Combining Banking with Private Equity Investing

By: Lily H. Fang, Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner

Bank-affiliated private equity groups account for 30% of all private equity investments. Their market share is highest during peaks of the private equity market, when the parent banks arrange more debt financing for in-house transactions yet have the lowest exposure to... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

SSRN

Find at Harvard

February 2008
Exercise

Gerson Lehrman Group

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and David Lane

Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) brought together decision makers in search of hard-to-find answers with specialized experts in nearly every imaginable field. Over time, GLG developed software to help minimize potential conflicts of interest among and between experts and... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governance Compliance; Conflict of Interests; Competitive Advantage; Software; Consulting Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2004
Case

D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Ajay Agrawal and Rebecca Henderson

D-Wave Systems is a start-up seeking to commercialize a quantum computer. Its business model is unique: as of 2003, it had very few technical resources within the firm. Instead, it financed a series of projects undertaken at universities and government labs. In return... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Engineering; Investment; Intellectual Property; Product Development; Research and Development; Commercialization; Computer Industry

September 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

The Indian Premier League, 2020

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Since its founding in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s eight-week Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, had become one of the most popular and lucrative sporting leagues in the world. In 2019, the IPL attracted 462 million TV viewers and 300 million digital... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Organizational Structure; Marketing; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Sports Industry; India